WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Saving Our Children

"My diabetes is such a central part of my life...it did teach me discipline...it also taught me about moderation...I've trained myself to be super-vigilant...because I feel better when I am in control."

                                                                         --Sonia Sotomayor

Today, diabetes reared its ugly head when I least expected it.  While shopping for fresh vegetables, I saw a man suddenly slump over the bananas.  I rushed to his side, assisted him to a chair, and got a manager’s attention.  

When asked if he had diabetes; he replied yes.  An employee was immediately dispatched to get orange juice for the customer.  Was it a low blood sugar event?  It very well might have been.  Only the doctors in the emergency room will know.  I am saying a prayer that he receives the help he needs.  

The threat of low blood sugar - plus other complications such as high blood pressure, peripheral neuropathy, kidney disease, diabetic retinopathy, and gastroparesis - is a very real scare for millions of Americans living with diabetes.  Managing diabetes is not spectator sport.  Successfully managing diabetes takes work, vigilance, and education.  It requires knowledge about healthy eating habits and importance of daily fitness routines.   Can diabetes be managed?  Yes. 

The question for parents is, can diabetes be prevented?  Yes.  What does it take to do that?  The same as managing diabetes:  work, vigilance, education, and knowledge about healthy eating habits and the importance of daily movement.  Making decisions to ensure that our kids stay at a healthy weight. Choosing foods and drinks without added sugars.  

ALL kids deserve access to healthy foods.  ALL kids deserve parents who are informed and health literate.  ALL kids deserve the opportunity to erase their nature deficits to ensure their mental health is balanced with their physical health. 

Without informed and health literate parents, our children’s risk of developing diabetes is greatly increased.   Diabetes is a preventable disease, only if we dare to become embarrassed and do whatever it takes to ensure our children’s health – and lives. 

In gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Foods for Happy, Healthy Kids

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."  

                                                                        -Walt Disney

Dark chocolate is one of my favorite foods.   A simple daily pleasure is enjoying several small pieces every afternoon.  Dark chocolate (look for chocolates with at least 70% and where cocoa, not sugar, is the first ingredient) promotes good moods, lowers blood pressures, and produces satiety.  

Dark chocolate

Recently I did a taste testing with some elementary age kids.  We compared several different kinds of dark chocolate, looking at the cocoa vs sugar contents.  The amazing thing was that almost all the kids preferred the dark chocolates where the first ingredient was cocoa, not sugar.  We did a “compare and contrast” between the dark chocolate and milk chocolate; when the kids left they had a solid understanding of why dark chocolate is a better food choice.

The fact is that besides being a delicious AND healthy treat, dark chocolate is one of the foods that promote good moods.  Here are more good mood-promoting foods for kids:

• Fruits and vegetables, especially dark-skinned berries such as blueberries and blackberries
• Oily fish such as wild salmon and tuna, which promote brain health
• Turmeric, the spice which makes curry yellow and contains some of the highest levels of anti-oxidants of any food on the planet

Ella Chabot (L) shopping for locally grown veggies at a farmers market in Johnson City, TN

Print the following list of ideas to bring healthy, good mood foods to your kitchen pantry, dinner table, and lunches for school or work:

1. Teach them about good foods such as dark chocolate, leafy green vegetables, and dark-skinned berries that promote good moods, increase focus, and prevent attention deficit disorder. 
2. Give them a day a week when they get to plan a dinner for the family. 
3. Shop together at your local farmers market (find one near you at www.localharvest.org).
4. Buy age-appropriate kitchen tools and invite your children to chop and cut vegetables and fruits with you (a favorite choice in the Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen is  always the lemon squeezer).
5. Give your kids choices ("Do you want to cut up red peppers or snow peas?")

Veggies for happy, healthy kids 

Create healthy, lifelong memories with your children by ensuring they have access to good foods.  

In gratitude,

Nancy L. Heinrich, MPH

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Learning at the Library

"I wouldn't say that processed meals, ready meals and takeaways aren't relevant; it's just that over the past 40 years there have been 3 generations of people who have come out of school and and gone through their home life without ever being shown how to cook properly."  

                                              --Jamie Oliver

Summertime is a great time for kids. Three months of playtime!  Sometimes playtime comes with passive learning, when kids don’t even know they are learning. 

I recently taught a workshop for elementary age kids at a public library called, "Becoming a Nutrition Detective".   While everyone sampled gluten-free crackers with the sun-dried tomato hummus made in the Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen, the kids learned about reading food labels.  It was a powerful lesson for not just the kids but also for the parents who sat quietly around the perimeter of the room. 

Our message is clear:

• ALL kids need access to healthy foods.
• Eliminate added sugars (one clue: common sugars end in “-ose”.)
• Less ingredients is better than more.
• Identify foods and drinks with high fructose corn syrup and food dyes.  Make the commitment not to consume them.
• Can you pronounce the ingredients?  If not, don’t eat them.   
• Buy vegetables from the farmers near where you live.
• Teach your children to cook.  

Learning at the Library with Growing Healthy Kids

Make learning fun.  Every day is an opportunity to improve the life of a child.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  Eat healthy foods. 

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.